In many communication systems (e.g., satellite communication systems, wireless communication systems, powerline communication (PLC) systems, coaxial cable communication systems, telephone line systems, etc.), the communication medium can be shared among multiple communication devices. In a shared communication medium, carrier sense multiple access (CSMA) protocols can be employed to minimize interference between communication devices in the shared communication medium. In accordance with the CSMA protocols, a transmitting communication device can “sense” the communication medium and transmit on the communication medium after verifying the absence of other traffic on the shared communication medium. If the channel is currently occupied, the transmitting communication device can defer its transmission until the channel becomes available.
In a shared communication medium, when the interference signal strength (at a receiving device) is small, such that the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) at the receiving device is high, both a transmitter device and an interfering device may simultaneously transmit data over the same communication channel, thus “reusing” the communication channel. Traditional channel reuse techniques may specify predetermined channel reuse patterns. For example, in accordance with the traditional channel reuse techniques, a channel allocation mechanism can be used to allow spatially separate devices use the same channel at the same time. However, such traditional channel reuse techniques may not fully reuse a communication channel that supports multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology. Communication systems using MIMO technology exploit spatial diversity at the transmitter and at the receiver to increase throughput compared to a single-input single-output (SISO) system.